Carton



Patented 9, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,186,109 osaron Oscar H. Hulti'n, Quincy, Mara, alsixnor to Pneumatic Scale Corporation, Limited, Quincy, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application December 8, 1933, Serial No. 701,472

7 Claims. (Cl. 229-51) carton may conveniently be used as a closure for.

the top of the carton.

With this general object in view and such othersas may hereinafter appear, the invention con- 10 sists in the carton and in the carton blank hereinafter described and particularly defined in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the drawing illustrating the preferred embodiments of the invention, Fig. 1 is a perspec- 16 tive of the improved carton prior to closing the top and bottom thereof; Fig. 2 is a perspective with portions broken away illustrating the upper portion of the completely closed and wrapped carton; Fig. 3 is a detail in perspective illustrating 20 the manner in which the carton may be conveniently opened by means of the tearing tab; Fig. 4 is a similar view illustrating the position assumed by the folded tucking flap after the tearing tab and its strip have been torn off; Fig. 25 5 is a perspective of the upper portion of an open carton ready to be reclosed; Fig.6 is a similar view with parts broken away illustrating the manner in which the top of the carton may be reclosed; Fig. 7 is a development of the preferred 80 form of carton blank; and Fig. 8 is a perspective illustrating a modified form of the present carton prior to closing the top thereof.

In general, the invention contemplates the provision of a carton having a novel and improved 86 top closure which is characterized by the particular manner in which a carton may be opened so as to enable one of the flaps to be subsequently utilized as a top closure. Accordingly, in the preferred form of the invention, one of the side 40 flaps of the carton is provided with a tucking flap capable of being tucked down into the interior of the carton when such side flap is to be used as a top closure for the carton after the latter has .oncebeen opened, and provision is is made during the closing and sealing of the top of the carton for folding said tucking flap either upwardly and upon the upper surface of the side fiap, or downwardly and under the under surface of the side flap prior to the folding down of the 50 side flap during the sealing and closing of the top of the carton. After the first side flap has thus been folded down, preferably upon the two previously folded end flaps, the remaining side flap'is folded over upon and adhesively secured 55 to the upper surface of the first folded side flap.

Provision is also preferably made for facilitating the opening of the carton in such manner as to enable the first folded side fiap to subsequently serve as a top closure for the carton, and accordingly it is preferred to provide the portion of 5 the second side flap adjacent its connection to the body of the carton with a tearing tab by which the user may tear ofi a strip of the second or outer side flap to thereby detach the strip both fromthe remaining portion of the second side 10 flap and from the body of the carton to thereby enable a carton to'be opened. when it is desired to thereafter close the carton, the tucking fiap upon the second side fiap maybe tucked down into the interior of the carton between the end flaps and forward wall of the body of the carton. Referring now to the drawing, which as above stated illustrates the preferred form of the invention, It represents a carton which is provided with end flaps l2 and two side flaps l3, it, projecting upwardly from the end and side walls of the body of the carton. The bottom of the carton may be closed in any usual orpreferred manner, and, as herein shown, is provided with the usual end and side flaps forming the usual bottom closurefor the carton.

In accordance with the present invention, one of the side flaps II for closing the top of the cartons is provided with a tucking flap 20 designed to be used to enable the side flap l3 .to most conveniently be used as a closure for the top of the carton after the carton has once been opened, and to be tucked down into the body of the carton in the manner illustrated in Fig. 6. During the closing and sealing of the top of as the carton after the carton has been filled, the

tucking flap 20 may and preferably will be folded either upwardly and rearwardly, or downwardly and rearwardly, so as to be brought into contiguous relation to the upper or lower surface rescribed is of itself capable of use with advantage in providing the carton with a type of closure in which the side flap It may subsequently be used as a closure member for the top of the carton after the carton has once been opened, and in opening the closed and sealed carton the forward part of the second side flap I 4 is first detached from the body of the carton to which it is connected, leaving the major portion of the side flap I4 adhesively secured to and forming a part of the first folded side flap I3. In practice it is preferred to tear off a sufficient portion of the forward part of the side flap It to expose the tucking flap 20 in the event that the latter has been folded upwardly and upon the upper surface of the side flap I3, and then by lifting the side flap I3 upwardly using the upstanding tucking flap 20 as a handle, the side flap l3 may be readily detached from the folded in end flaps I2 and the opening of the carton completed.

In the construction of top closure for the carton as thus far described, the folding over of the tucking flap 20 upon the upper surface of the side flap I3 contributes in several respects to the simplicity with which the top closure may be made, and in addition facilitates the opening of the carton. It will be observed that after the flap I4 has been detached from the body of the carton, the folded tucking flap 20 may be moved into an upstanding position such as is illustrated in Fig. 4, and this enables the tucking flap to serve as a convenient handle or holding tab by which the user may readily complete the opening of the carton by breaking the adhesive bond between the under surface of the flap I3 and the previously folded in end flaps, and in addition if the carton has been wrapped by a wrapper such as 22, the tearing of the wrapper along the end edges 23 is also facilitated. In practice, when the remaining side flap I4 is folded upon and adhesively sealed to the previously folded side flap I3, it is preferred to omit the adhesive from the portion of the flap I4 which immediately overlies the tucking flap 20, thus enabling the tucking flap to be readily exposed by tearing off the forward portion of the flap I4, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, or the adhesion of the tucking flap 20 to the flap I4 when the carton is closed may be prevented in any other well-known manner. In those instances Where it is found of advantage to fold the tucking flap 20 downwardly upon the under surface of the side flap I3, the closed and sealed carton may be easily opened upon the detachment of thefiap I4 from the body portion of the carton to which it is connected because of the fact that the tucking tab 20 will have been folded out of the way in a position to overlie the previously folded end flaps, so that any liability of the tucking flap becoming caught under the folded in end flaps and the subsequent tearing of the end flaps is avoided.

In order to facilitate the tearing of a strip of the flap I4 when it is desired to open the carton, the flap I4 may and preferably will be provided with a reenforcing strip 24 which may comprise gauze, kraft, or other strong paper, or any other suitable material difflcult to tear, and by the provision of this reenforcing strip 24 the board material comprising the flap I4 may be more readily torn to enable a strip such as 26 to be torn from the flap I4 to thereby detach it from the body of the carton and enable the carton to be opened in the manner illustrated. It is further preferred to provide the flap I4 with a tearing tab indicated at 28 and the latter may be. formed as an integral part of the flap I4 during the dying out of the carton blank, or it may, if desired, comprise a tab aflixed to the flap I4, and in practice I prefer to form the tab as an integral part of the flap I4 and to extend the reenforcing strip 24 so as to reenforce the tab. During the folding and sealing of the top of the carton, the tab 28 may and preferably will be folded down and adhesively secured to the end wall of the body of the carton in the position illustrated in Fig. 2 from which it may be easily lifted and the tearing operation performed by the user. When the carton is provided with the wrapper 22 the folded down tab 28 will be covered.

While of course the tearing of the flap I4 from the body of the carton may, if desired, be facilitated by the provision of perforations, the present construction of top closure is such as to enable the tearing operations to be readily performed and the normal strength of the carton to be preserved.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been herein illustrated and described, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other forms within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A folding box blank comprising wall sections forming the sides of said box, flaps extending from some of said sections and extending over the ends of the assembled box, and a flap serving as a tuck, extending from an edge of one of said flaps, and folded under and onto said one flap in the assembled box.

2. A folding box blank comprising wall sections forming the sides of said box, flaps extending from some of said sections and extending over the ends of the assembled box, and a flap serving as a tuck, extending from an edge of one of said flaps, and folded onto said one flap in the assembled box and a relatively thin and substantially strong reenforcing strip adhesively secured to the underside of an opposing flap and overlying said tuck flap in the assembled box whereby to enable the overlying portion of said opposing flap to be detached when opening the carton.

3. A folding box blank comprising wall sections forming the sides of said box, flaps ex-' tending from some of said sections and extending over the ends of the assembled box, and a. flap serving as a tuck, extending from an edge of one of said flaps, and folded under and onto said one flap in the assembled box, and a relatively thin and substantially strong reenforcing strip adhesively secured to the underside of an opposing flap and overlying the forward portion of said one flap in the assembled box for a. distance substantially equal to the width of said -folded under flap whereby to enable the overlying portion of said opposing flap to be detached when opening the carton.

4. A folding box blank comprising wall sections forming the sides of said box, flaps extendingfrom some of said sections and extending over the ends of the assembled box, and a flap serving as a tuck, extending from an edge of one of said flaps, and folded onto said one flap 5. A folding box blank comprising wall sections forming the sides of said box, flaps extending from some of said sections and extending over the ends of the assembled box, and a flap serving as a tuck, extending from an edge of one of said flaps, and folded under and onto said one flap in the assembled box, and a relatively thin and substantially strong reenforcing strip adhesively secured to the underside of an opposing flap and overlying the forward portion of said one flap .in the assembled box for a distance substantially equal to the width of said folded under flap, said reenforcing strip extending beyond one side of the box and being folded down upon the adjacent wall section in the assembled box to form a handle, whereby to enable the overlying portion of'said opposing flap to be detached when opening the carton.

6. A folding box blank comprising wall sections forming the sides of said box, flaps extending from some of said sections and extending over the ends of the assembled box, and a flap serving as a tuck, extending from an edge of one of said flaps, and folded onto said one flap in the assembled box, and a relatively thin and substantially strong reenforcing strip adhesively secured to the underside of an opposing flap and overlying said tuck flap in the assembled box, said reenforcing strip extending beyond one side of the box, a tab formed integrally with and extending from one side of said opposing flap and adhesively secured to said extended reenforcing strip to form a handle, whereby to enable the overlying portion of said opposing flap to be detached when opening the carton.

7. A folding boxblank comprising wall sections forming the sides of said box, flaps extending from some of said sections and extending over the ends of the assembled box, and a flap serving as a tuck, extending from an edge of one of said flaps, and folded under and onto said one flap in the assembled box, and a relatively thin and substantially strong reenforcing strip adhesively secured to the underside of an opposing flap and overlying the forward portion of said one flap- OSCAR H. HUL'I'IN. 

